SV Darmstadt 1898 vs VFB Stuttgart 1893 Prediction: Stuttgart to win this context

In gameweek 22, the Bundesliga's bottom-dwelling SV Darmstadt 98 will square off against third-place Stuttgart, eager to put an end to a miserable run at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor on Saturday. This weekend, the visiting team looks to win the league for the fourth week in a row, while the struggling team is nine points from safety. Both teams have had rather different seasons; while the hosts are now fighting for points at the bottom of the table, Hoeneß's team is headed for Champions League participation.

Darmstadt and Borussia Monchengladbach played to a scoreless draw on Saturday, preventing Darmstadt from rising above the bottom of the Bundesliga standings. After winning three straight games against Werder Bremen, Augsburg, and Elversberg back in October, Lieberknecht's team has now gone 15 games without a win in all competitions, dropping 10 and drawing five. Darmstadt's poor season has been caused by their defensive weakness; so far, they have let up the most goals in the league (49).

Stuttgart, on the other side, defeated Mainz 3-1 at MHP Arena last Sunday to make it three straight Bundesliga victories. Previous to that, on February 6, Hoeneß's team was eliminated from the DFB Pokal after suffering a close 3-2 defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen in the Bay Arena. Stuttgart is now three points ahead of fourth-place Borussia Dortmund in the league rankings with 43 points after 21 games.

With three months remaining in the 2023–24 Bundesliga season, Darmstadt's chances of surviving are in jeopardy due to the bottom club's failure to score victories. The Lilies were promoted at the end of the previous season, but after just two wins in their top-tier comeback, Torsten Lieberknecht's team is four points below Koln, in the relegation playoff position, and nine points behind Union Berlin, who they need to beat to avoid danger.

Only Mainz 05, who are now in second place, have won fewer games than Darmstadt's two, and their woeful defence has contributed to their team's protracted winless streak in the league since October.

After defeating Werder Bremen and Augsburg back-to-back, the Lilies have only managed to pick up five of the 42 available points, which has affected their league standing. The division's worst team has played 21 games, so it's unclear how this weekend will go for them, although they don't seem very confident following four straight losses in front of their supporters.

After a little lull at the beginning of the season, Stuttgart has dominated the league, winning three games while scoring 11 and giving up four. Serhou Guirassy was not involved in this since the Guinean striker was in service with Syli National for the Africa Cup of Nations. In Guirassy's absence, Denis Undav took the lead, and the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee intends to continue scoring even once the starting centre-forward returns from his AFCON 2023 duties.

Borussia Dortmund and struggling RB Leipzig trail with three and five points, respectively, meaning Sebastian Hoeness's team is unlikely to contend for the championship. However, they have Champions League qualification to defend as they are currently seven points behind undefeated leaders Bayer Leverkusen and twelve behind Bayern Munich.

Stuttgart has not seen a tie in any of their ten road games this season (five victories and the same number of losses). The fact that Die Schwaben triumphed in their most recent away game against Freiburg could spur them on ahead of Saturday's

Stuttgart has had difficulty winning away from home, but they will go up against a Darmstadt team that is now at the bottom of the standings.

Stuttgart is our pick to win this one despite Lieberknecht's team having the worst defensive record in the league.

The potential score line is 1 - 3 or 1 - 4.